Thus, obviously this has to do with a discriminatory attitude towards people based on their place of living, facts of the formation of stigma, which is a violation of Article 29 of the RA Constitution (Prohibition of Discrimination) and Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

Persons with mental health problems are “imprisoned” at psychiatric hospitals and care facilities and lose their opportunity of self-realization and their own self. This is caused by both the current stigma and stereotypes, and the lack of necessary psychosocial support services and insufficient legislative regulations.

At the briefing of March 27, 2017 at the 17th session of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, representatives of Armenian NGOs, including HCA Vanadzor representatives Susanna Davtyan and Marieta Temuryan, presented the progress in implementation of Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

On February 11-12, 2017, Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor, in cooperation with the Center for Media Initiatives and with the financial support of Sigrid Rausing Trust Foundation, held a working discussion with journalists and representatives of numerous state organizations on the topic of ‘Features of covering problems of drug users and persons with mental health problems’.

On December 23, 2015, Davit Selimyan’s case was appealed to the European Court of Human Rights. Note that back on June 23, 2015, he was violently apprehended from the electricity price hike protest venue to a police station and unlawfully kept there in violation of the rights under the ECHR articles below: Article 3 (Prohibition of torture), Article 5 (Right to liberty and security), Article 8 (Right to respect for private and family life), Article 10 (Freedom of expression), Article 11 (Freedom of assembly and association), Article 13 (Right to an effective remedy), and Article 14 (Prohibition of discrimination).

On April 17-18, the HCA Vanadzor held a workshop in Aghveran on Principle of Equality and Challenges of Discrimination in RA, with the financial support of the OSF-Armenia. The workshop aimed to raise awareness among the staff of the RA MoH psycho-neurologic facilities and RA MoJ penitentiary facilities, lawyers, journalists and human rights defenders of human rights, principle of equality, forms and challenges of discrimination through enhanced knowledge and exchange of experience. The workshop was attended by representatives of the RA Ministry of Justice Penitentiary Department and offices, RA Ministry of Health Inpatient Medical Care Policy Department and psycho-neurologic facilities, journalists, lawyers and civic activists.

The activity of HCA Vanadzor targets among others protection of the rights of persons with mental health problems. Within protection of the rights of persons with mental health problems, in 2007, 2009 and 2013 the Organization carried out human rights monitoring at the neuro-psychiatric facilities in the RA, prepared relevant reports and submitted proposals to competent authorities. In 2014, the Organization submitted an alternative report on fulfillment by the RA of the requirements of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

We, the representatives of civil society, consider discrimination and hate speech, continued physical and psychological persecution of people, as well as violations of the judicial system on these occasions in Armenia unacceptable.

Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor pays special attention to human rights protection in closed and semi-closed medical institutions (psychiatric institutions, penitentiary institutions, etc.) because the risks of human rights violations in such institutions are high. The HCAV regularly carries out human rights monitoring in closed and semi-closed medical institutions in order to study the situation of human rights, reveal and reinstate the violations, make recommendations and provide legislative solutions.

On June 15, 2014, the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee submitted a joint report on the human rights situation in the RA in the past 4.5 years to the United Nations (UN) Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group.